Educational institutions: curriculum must incorporate basic social challenges: Marriyum

The Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb said that national curriculum of the educational institutions must incorporate basic social challenges, information regarding national objectives in addition to details about national culture, heritage and language so that our youth could become well versed with them.
She was addressing a conference on value-based education 2018 held under the auspices of a private school at the Auditorium of Prime Minister Secretariat. She said that teachers had a pivotal role in promoting value based education in the country and as such it was imperative to undertake their capacity-building in line with the demands of modern times, which surely would produce positive results.
The minister pointed out that the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had introduced Educational Reforms programme in Islamabad which laid due emphasis on modernizing the syllabus of the education institutions and capacity-building of the teachers. Marriyum said that under the programme montessori classes had been introduced in the government run schools in Islamabad on the pattern of private schools, with great success.
She said that for the first time efforts had been unfurled to review the curricula with a view to make it comprehensive and compatible with demands of the modern times. The minister told the audience that the reform package also included up-gradation of 422 schools, provision of basic amenities, and improvement of infrastructure and review of the curricula.
The minister said that Punjab government had carried out significant reforms in the education system which had narrowed down the gulf between the private and public schools. The minister observed that in the foreign countries the students were taken to the parliament frequently where they learnt a lot about the system. Marriyum said that during her visit to House of Commons she noticed that the students of primary schools routinely visited the parliament and the students from high schools, colleges and universities visiting were briefed about the working and procedures of the legislature.
The MOS said that creating awareness among Pakistani students about parliament and democracy was very important adding keeping in view that necessity 35 universities of the country had included the subject in the curricular for Political Science. The minister said that the theme for 23rd of March was 'let us lit the lights of peace' and in that context it was incumbent upon the educational institutions to hold special functions to promote culture of tolerance.
Marriyum stressed that private educational institutions must supplement the efforts of the government to raise the standard of education and for evolving comprehensive and well-knit curricula. Marriyum said that she also was educated in government, school, colleges and universities. She said that in those times the teachers were regarded as elders and adjudicators and the people of the locality used to approach them for resolving their issues. The minister said the same respect for the teachers would have to be reincarnated.
The minister reiterated that for durable solution to the challenges confronting the country a culture of saying the truth and listening to the truth would have to be evolved. She said that the school imparted informal and formal education whereas the education disseminated by the society had a significant role in the training and upbringing of the youth.
Marriyum conceded that the private education sector had improved the curricula quite appreciably but there was no space in them for extra-curricular activities. She said as against that the government school had open spaces and play ground but could not produce the required results. She said that to achieve the desired objective it was necessary to undertake capacity-building of the teachers.